29 dead from listeria-tainted cantaloupes

LOS ANGELES TIMES

November 5, 2011

LOS ANGELES - The death toll from listeria-contaminated cantaloupes has reached 29, making it the deadliest food-borne outbreak in the United States since at least 1985, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In an update on its website, the CDC said that as of Nov. 1, 139 people in 28 states had been infected in the outbreak, attributed to cantaloupes from Jensen Farms in Colorado. The fruit was voluntarily recalled on Sept. 14 and probably hasn't been on shelves for weeks, but the toll has kept rising as new laboratory tests have been completed.

According to the agency, reports of the illnesses began July 31 and ran until Oct. 21. The age of those infected ranged from younger than 1 year old to 96 years old, with a median of 77. Most of those found to be ill were older than 60.

The previous deadliest outbreak that the CDC has recorded was in California. Listeria-tainted cheese killed 28 adults and children. Twenty miscarriages and stillbirths were reported, CDC spokeswoman Lola Russell said. The CDC began keeping records of outbreaks in 1973, she said.

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